"Age two.... no, age ten"- Page 2

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 2:10pm

please, mr. matt, it's nucular. sheesh. it has to be a choice that he says it that way. you're telling me with all the money he's got behind him and all the advisers that no one there could convince him to pronounce it right? it has to be a strategic decision to keep the idea of him as a bumpkin in the public discourse. that way people will consistently underestimate him. seriously, watch his innauguration speech if he wins and see if he doesn't clearly enunciate, noo clee er. oh wait, if he wins most of you will have already made for moose country. can i get you guys to send me some cases of molson ice? and maybe some back bacon?

[ckeaton]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 2:24pm

I think it's my middle class Episcopalian upbringing that makes me so sensitive to the timbre with which issues are often displayed on this board. (sit down, sit down, you're rockin' the boat) No boys and girls, I give equal time to all, I get just as upset when someone angrily bashes a Democrat. I just might not be as vocal when that happens, because I lean towards the other side.

I think that Papa's wise post scrapes at this issue for me...

>"that was the first time in my memory that the opposition party went so far as to interrupt the president to applaud points knowing that they were contrary to his speech. anybody remember tip o'neill ever leading the charge during any of reagan's speeches? what about newt during clinton's? i think it says a lot about how bitter the climate is politically right now that it basically went without mention on most of the coverages almost as if it was expected and accepted."

I was AGHAST that the left side of the aisle was acting like a bunch of drunk fraternity members. Clapping when they did... It reminded me of the asses who clap when a server drops a tray in a restaurant. I want to look up to my leaders, from all parties. Seeing them act like baboons at a frat party really pissed me off. But I was more depressed at the state of things than angry.

We're all cut out of different cloth.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 3:00pm

Well like I said the unruly clapping was one of my favorite parts of the address. I tend to think that is what the opposition should do....oppose. I don't think their clapping was that unruly. Why should everyone have to clap on cue? I like when the British debate. Now that's spirited politics.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 3:51pm

As a Canadian I should stay above the fray but I find myself wondering.... why so few registered voters in both countries who actually vote? Do people feel so disconnected that they can't be bothered since there is unlikely to be a positive change? Hence the pap that is promoted to all and sundry as their political action>
I also find myself constantly reminded of Tammany Hall & the legends of its political porkbarreling. Just a thought.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 3:53pm

Well then you have the people registered to vote and DENIED the ability to do so because they're African American and live in the South. I'm sorry, did I miss the trip back to 1865 (or 1965, for that matter)?

[sabrelady]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 4:12pm

Please elucidate.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 4:15pm

oh no, there'll be none of that elucidating in here!

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 4:36pm

"I was AGHAST that the left side of the aisle was acting like a bunch of drunk fraternity members. Clapping when they did... "

And shivers of delight coursed through my veins when I heard the news. Lordy, are the Dems finally growing a spine?!

[sabrelady]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 4:37pm

Point taken. That would require lucidity.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 4:54pm

I was more disturbed by the robotic like standing ovations coming from the right side of the isle.
If VC fails to elucidate maybe I will elucidate for him (or her as the case may be). Updated On: 1/21/04 at 04:54 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 5:03pm

"why so few registered voters in both countries who actually vote? Do people feel so disconnected that they can't be bothered since there is unlikely to be a positive change? Hence the pap that is promoted to all and sundry as their political action"

Hence all the PSA's every four years begging people to register and vote. Who will it be this year? I hope it's Mindy Cohn.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 5:09pm

i'll be interested to see if russell simmons' effort to register voters nationwide will have an effect on the end result numbers.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 1/21/04 at 7:10pm

What frat house behavior are you speaking of? Did we watch the same speech? If anything, other than brief outbursts during the pointedly incendiary remarks about extending the Patriot Act (sic), the Dems were quiet to the point of funereal. Which to me is appropriate.

And as to those shrieks, surely Rove and Andy Card expected vocal naysayers re a piece of railroaded legislation that Democrats and Republicans (at least libertarians) find repellent in parts. And insert shots of bemused Hill, appalled Ted, and snoozing Charlie were just filmmaking 101. Everyone wants the story, and the story isn't reaction shots of the red-tied brigade; no camera crew is instructed to record the choir to which Bush preached. But speaking of that hand-picked choir ... I found Bush's uses of the African-American girl, dozing during his paean, particularly treacly and heart tugging in the Tiny Tim/Little Nell sense. The whole point, of course.

Updated On: 1/21/04 at 07:10 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/22/04 at 11:39am

I don't mind if you elucidate, just don't spill any on the carpet.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/22/04 at 2:59pm

CK, do you live in the same world as me? Do you ever happen to hear the VITRIOL that spews out of the mouths of Rush Limbaugh or Laura Ingrahm, just to name two. THEY BOTH STILL HARP ON CLINTON CONSTANTLY. I think you just are so used to the vicious discourse from "your side" that it doesn't even register.

What I see in this thread is discussion of specific points that the appointed president brought up in his state of the union speech. This is what is called civil discourse. I have been through enough Republican/Democrat administration pendulum swings to know that when there is a Republican president, Republicans ALWAYS talk about civility and how, well, we all have one president so we really should be behind him.

At first I took it on face value. "Maybe they really would behave that way if a Democrat were president." Then Clinton got elected. And I watched and listened as many of these arbiters of civility just frothed at the mouth and revealed themselves to be the hypocrites they are.

[WindyCityActor]

Posted: 1/22/04 at 3:27pm

Dear FindingNamo,

Thank you for the insightful response!

Best Regards,

Michael

P.S. On an unrelated note, I love the new profile icon. Although, I do miss the fighter pilot! Updated On: 1/22/04 at 03:27 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/22/04 at 3:42pm

namo, does this mean that you are not going to be happy with the talking ann coulter action figure i bought you?

it says cute things like: "liberals hate america, they hate flag-wavers, they hate abortion opponents, they hate all religions except islam, post 9/11. even islamic terrorists don't hate america like liberals do. they don't have the energy. if they had that much energy, they'd have indoor plumbing by now."

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/22/04 at 3:55pm

I will use that action figure happily, pap, my vibrator recently broke.

[ckeaton]

Posted: 1/22/04 at 4:12pm

Namo! I didn't even realize that was you! I was so used to the fighter pilot. Apparently I should read the name before getting peeved at the "new girl". Wow. OK. (Not good at dealing with change, over here :) )

Anyway...
Extremests from either side make me nervous. Though the premise of Ingraham's "Shut Up and Sing" is one that I've often thought. Rush is a hypocrite. He's lost me. Yeah. I don't like bashing of anyone, even Clinton.

I just can't stand how people (not necessarily here, all the time) jump to the "Bush is a stupid person" argument when they are arguing the points of an ENTIRE administration. When in fact, he is actually very intelligent... and probably not personally at the root of many of the speeches that are put in front of him.

From what I've read, most president's are often faces with either/or decisions... and do very little policy origination at all. It's been going on since George Washington.

According to the book of '1776', I'd think John Adams was probably the most hands on of the group of 'em. :)

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/22/04 at 5:08pm

"When in fact, he is actually very intelligent... and probably not personally at the root of many of the speeches that are put in front of him."

I have to say it seems to me that the second part of your sentence cancels out the first part of your sentence. I haven't seen much convincing evidence that Bush is very intelligent at all. Most of what I have seen leads me to the conclusion that the president is merely of average intelligence to slightly-below average intelligence. This plays well with the anti-intellectualism of the crowd that held Clinton's Rhoades Scholarship against him. You know, "elite" and all that.

The man will not read newspapers. He would never have been admitted to Yale if he were not a legacy student (affirmative action for the rich and the white). He has difficulty with basic grammar and English language pronunciation.

What makes you think he is very intelligent, CK? I don't think thinking this president isn't the brightest of bulbs is extremism; it seems fairly obvious.

Updated On: 1/22/04 at 05:08 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/22/04 at 5:15pm

there is an unsubstantiated allegation out there that gw has successfully navigated the dreaded potato v. potatoe test.